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Thursday kicked off what is sure to be a year full of events, films, music, promos and products from two of America's modern culture manipulators, Kanye West and Drake.
Drake finally gets to show us how he sees himself in "Jungle."

First thing Thursday morning, Drake dropped the short film Jungle, full of slow motion shots, Bentleys, bitches, his own Red Room, obligatory home town footage, old home video, demolished buildings, kickin' it with the homies on the Canadian corner, self-reflective questions, boxing and two new track previews.

It was a lot.

And I'm not quite sure where he was going with the whole thing, but I still watched because it's that new Drizzy Drake and that's just the way it goes. He knows he's at that point in his career and it shows. I'm just not sure he knows what he wants to say to the world - and it shows. I can only imagine what this cost to produce. I keep picturing him watching the footage with his boys in the background giving him dap every time Drake manages to turn his head from the screen, while they give each other the WTF face as Drake is stuck cheesing at his own slow-motion walking-through-the-city scenes.

J"ungle" at its core is an ego project, and I don't have anything against it. If you don't stroke your own ego, who else is going to do it for you (that doesn't cost you $2,000 per night)? Sometimes it's just cheaper and better for the soul to take care of your own needs.

It's fitting because Drake, at his core, is a student of Yeezus himself. And if Yeezy has taught us anything, it's how to properly love oneself.

Drake - Jungle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lKH5dMNcq0

The God himself uses his powers to bring us sneakers

While Drake was celebrating the release of his film by wearing every single chain in the house, Kanye West was in New York debuting the highly anticipated Yeezy Season 1 shoe collection line with adidas.

By the look of the front row, this was the hottest ticket of the day. Kanye even dropped the first track "Wolves" featuring Vic Mensa and Sia from his upcoming album. The show included dozens of models rockin' the futuristic post-apocalyptic minimalist, but still care about my shoe game look. It works for a Kanye project.

The event was short on words, but Kanye's message seems clear. He's here to stay. And he's quickly growing beyond rap and entertainment. He's bringing to life his idea of culture. These events, along with his music is giving the public a deeper look into the rabbit hole of Kanye's mind.

Hate him or love him, you won't be able to avoid him. I never looked up a pair of Red Octobers, but I can't say I won't tell my wife to put some Yeezy Boosts on the Christmas list this year.

Kanye West | adidas fashion show in full:

http://youtu.be/TEYaLzRDyIA

Into 2015 and beyond

We cannot ignore the fact that both Kanye and Drake prophesied their 2015 reign with project after project planned. These two, along with some of their famous friends, have been pushing the culture by reimagining what is possible. They're rebranding their influence to shape their own reality, and in turn the realities of us - the consumer.

While Drake has a ways to go before he reaches true Throne status, he's paying attention to his peers while carving out his own lane of influence. The point is that there is room for the both of them to prosper. And 100's more if they're willing to step into their truth in spite of all the douchbaggery or light skinnededed jokes Twitter will no doubt throw their way. They're even counting on the haters to push their brands for them. The more culturally divisive these two are, the more their icon statuses are solidified. With that thought, let's check in with the twitter haters quickly:

https://twitter.com/fakemikemulloy/status/566060626553102337

https://twitter.com/victoriaanewton/status/566095549213196288

Found those within the first 60 seconds. You know how it goes if I kept scrolling.

This is beyond hip-hop. It's beyond rap. It's using rap as a stepping stone to fine tune your vision.

Yeezy continues to teach us well.

That's when he's not going on about how a real musician should respect real artists that is.

SURPRISE CANADIAN RETALIATION!

Drake then WAITS for Yeezy to do his thing, then gives the wolves of the media something to feed on by dropping an entire surprise project album on on the heels of his upcoming fourth studio album. So he gave us an album before the album because it's on iTunes - and if I have to pay $13 for a mixtape, it's an album.

It's too much. But we as fans are the ones who benefit at the end of the day (literally, it's like midnight as I type this), so lemme go cough up that dough, because apparently Drizzy and Yeezy season has officially begun.

What do you think? Would you cop the Yeezy Boost? Are you jamming that new Drizzy Drake, or are you still trying to figure out his film with a screw face on right now? Is Drake simply a victim of his yellowness? Is Kanye the second coming design messiah?